Tamerlan Tsarnaev Called His Mother to Say He Loved Her Mid-Shootout

Yet another macabre turn in a story consisting solely of macabre turns (and notable acts of heroism): Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, whose sons Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are suspected of killing three marathon-goers and a police officer, as well as injuring nearly 200 more in Boston last week, claimed to ABC News that her eldest son, Tamerlan, telephoned “early Friday morning, alerting her that police were following him and his younger brother and that there had been a shooting.” He told her, through tears: “Mama, I love you.” She maintains that her sons were framed.

Meanwhile, a new tradition as we continue coverage of last week’s hideous and evil act: for every development about, say, parents who have just lost a son and who are in denial about said son’s alleged radicalism, we’ll include mention of a positive post-bombing story. To begin: over on The New Yorker’s Web site, Atul Gawande describes the incredible courage and generosity of the doctors and nurses who treated last Monday’s victims: at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “a hundred nurses, doctors, X-ray staff, transport staff, you name it showed up as soon as they heard the news. They wanted to help, and they knew how. . . Change of nursing shift is at three o’clock. So [the nurse in charge] immediately notified the day shift to stay on. No one wanted to leave, anyway.”